Your roses are so pretty, all of them! From my perspective, "very little flowering" in winter sounds pretty nice. Snow is over-rated. I'm not even close to a zone where pampas grass is considered a perennial. Sigh.

The regular petunias I think were tiny (snapdragons are tiny!), but the trailing are bigger. I think they're also coated so I don't know how much of the size is actually seed. Same with the begonias, as a couple are just up, if leaf size is any indication of seed size, they were tiny tiny tiny but coated. When you sell 10-12 for $5 instead of 100-300 for $2, I guess you have to make sure they're at least visible to the naked eye.

Supposedly sweet peas don't transplant well, but I think that risk is better than missing out on the flowers again. Maybe I'll do half and half.

I start these inside and I am telling you they grow fine when you transplant them. Mine grow against my garage, up the wall and on to the roof. I also throw some seed down at the same time, just to expand the bloom time.

I'm with Shaykeija on this, SamIAm, I've had no trouble either way with Sweet Peas. Wish all plants were so easy peasy.
I've started taking seeds from bulb flowers now. So much for me to learn though. Oh, that reminds me, I have bulbs I must plant too.

I start them in April. Usually the second week. Then when they sprout, i move them to my porch during the day. (if not too cold) By the 2nd week in May, I have the windows open and harden them off. My husband usually plants them either on the long weekend in May or the first weekend in June. I also use the peat pellets to start these.

__________________
The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog...

There ain't no cure for stupid ...... but we should make sure we laugh and point it out to everyone else

Beautiful flowers, as always, GF. I was thrilled last week when I found some inch-high daylilies poking up through the snow and nyjer chaff I was raking out of the hummingbird garden. Amazing how a little green on a gloomy day can cheer the soul...

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

Thanks! I'll start half in April, then, along with my marigolds. (Forgot about the marigolds, but it's an old seed pack I found lying around, so germination rate won't be high). If you two are right, even *I* should get them to work. I'm still green at this. I'm all thumbs... shouldn't that add up to green thumbs?

Ok. I saw your reply from my booboo post....sorry I misunderstood your location...Anyway, you guys are talking about gardening and I know it won't happen soon here...makes Momma a little cranky right now since she has some plants that she worked on all winter and really wants to put them in.

Last edited by exkalibur; March 21st, 2011 at 02:59 PM.
Reason: Had to move the post and close it

Alright exkalibur, let me tell you something about snow.
I have baby birdies and they are hungry. Turn on the tap to mix up their food, and nothing but a slight hiss. The mains are so old here, this is about the millionth time this winter it's been shut off. So wonderful clean fresh snow and I am trying to be grateful for it as I investigate the proper microwave setting to turn one big scoop of snow into hot water.

I can't wait for my daffodils. Seems so far away yet. My marigolds are an X8 pack. Can't find a list of what year that code refers to. Most of my new ones are A1.

You can't plant till the end of May, Hazel! That seems like forever, even to me.(who has some garden) Laughed @ your mouldy green thumb. Don't forget you are probably growing all the lovely perennial wildflowers that I am currently spending a fortune on. And daylilies coming up , that's really something to celebrate. I love them. I have self sown sweet peas coming up everywhere in the garden, do you think frosts will bowl them? Maybe I don't need to weed them out. (How lazy is that?)
Exkalibur, I get the shivers just hearing about your snow. Thought you may be interested to hear that my sister, after losing their second GSD and saying she couldn't go through that again, has been searching for another one. As I knew she would. A girlfriend up the road bought one recently so I sent her photo's, aren't I wicked? LOL.

Alright exkalibur, let me tell you something about snow.
I have baby birdies and they are hungry. Turn on the tap to mix up their food, and nothing but a slight hiss. The mains are so old here, this is about the millionth time this winter it's been shut off. So wonderful clean fresh snow and I am trying to be grateful for it as I investigate the proper microwave setting to turn one big scoop of snow into hot water.

I can't wait for my daffodils. Seems so far away yet. My marigolds are an X8 pack. Can't find a list of what year that code refers to. Most of my new ones are A1.

jeez where abouts are you? remind me NOT to come there until atleast ummmm July.. We've got tulips peaking through so far and kinda greenish tinted mud...i mean grass..

You can't plant till the end of May, Hazel! That seems like forever, even to me.(who has some garden) Laughed @ your mouldy green thumb. Don't forget you are probably growing all the lovely perennial wildflowers that I am currently spending a fortune on. And daylilies coming up , that's really something to celebrate. I love them. I have self sown sweet peas coming up everywhere in the garden, do you think frosts will bowl them? Maybe I don't need to weed them out. (How lazy is that?)
Exkalibur, I get the shivers just hearing about your snow. Thought you may be interested to hear that my sister, after losing their second GSD and saying she couldn't go through that again, has been searching for another one. As I knew she would. A girlfriend up the road bought one recently so I sent her photo's, aren't I wicked? LOL.

Humph. Hazel just got me worried. I knew paint and gangreen were possibilities, but now I've got to consider mould as a possibility.
No. My sweet peas stayed green long after fall frosts. Of somewhere between that and 40 below they did die eventually, but it was a long time.
Good luck with your sister, I bet you'll win. Losing is very hard but emptiness is even harder.

Humph. Hazel just got me worried. I knew paint and gangreen were possibilities, but now I've got to consider mould as a possibility.

If it was this place at certain times of the year it'd be moss.
No. My sweet peas stayed green long after fall frosts. Of somewhere between that and 40 below they did die eventually, but it was a long time.
Good luck with your sister, I bet you'll win. Losing is very hard but emptiness is even harder.

That's good news about frost and sweet peas, I might just shift them into better places then.
I have to shop today so maybe I should take my camera along and take photo's of the GSD, Mars, that is at Petstock, for my sister I mean.

If it was this place at certain times of the year it'd be moss.
That's good news about frost and sweet peas, I might just shift them into better places then.
I have to shop today so maybe I should take my camera along and take photo's of the GSD, Mars, that is at Petstock, for my sister I mean.

You can't plant till the end of May, Hazel! That seems like forever, even to me.(who has some garden) Laughed @ your mouldy green thumb. Don't forget you are probably growing all the lovely perennial wildflowers that I am currently spending a fortune on. And daylilies coming up , that's really something to celebrate. I love them.

Yep, traditional last day of frost is May 30 or 31, something like... People always try to jump the gun and plant mid-May--and then we get another frost and they have to do it all over again. hazel is too paranoid to fall for that, so she just waits till Memorial Day weekend to plant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamIam

Humph. Hazel just got me worried. I knew paint and gangreen were possibilities, but now I've got to consider mould as a possibility.

Yep, sorry to say... Luckily, my thumb is the only place it's showed up! So far

We have moss, too--yesterday's rain uncovered a lot of it and it's lookin' mighty fine covered in water and feeling hydrated. Today, we woke up to thunder snow, so it's rapidly being covered over again We could get 6 -12 inches (15 - 30 cm) of snow, but I'm thinking the weather-guessers are wrong and we'll end up wit less. Whatever we get will melt quickly. It always does in March.

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

Traditional last day of frosts here might be Melbourne Cup day, the first Tuesday in November, as that's when they say you are safe to plant tomatoes. Had a little spend up in the garden section yesterday. Not much, about 5 punnets of pansies that they were putting out cheap because they looked tatty - they always come good and bloom like crazy - a white gaura(I only had the pink one), a new blue Salvia, a Penstemon named Firebird, and the dwarf agapanthus, Back in Black. Toby had to sneak into the Gaura photo - he compliments it anyway. Next is the blue salvia, a bit fuzzy because of it was overcast. Final photo is one I learnt the name of while browsing the plant nursery, Salvia Phylis Fancy.

Is it white, Hazel? This one is Guara lindheimeri, native to the USA -Mexico border area. A perennial I think. I love it, so dainty.
Tobes is a sweetie. Ian scared the daylights out of me the other day by coming in and telling me that Toby was crook again, not urinating properly .... he had a bladder stone op in the past ..... but I've watched him like a hawk since, and no, it's a nice stream.

We are getting some rain again today, just showers, though part of the state got 8 to 12 inches!! Must phone my sister to make sure they didn't get flooded. I just want it wet enough to make weeding easy, then you won't hear from me for a week. Ian said they think this La Nina weather pattern will be here for at least another 3 months so we will get warmer than usual weather. Probably more of the tropical weather. It's interesting at least, the growth on some trees is unbelievable.

Here is the crinum mooreei getting into stride.I love it and was worried it was sick seeing the leaves are dying, but according to my book that's what it does, thank heaven. The leaves die off while the flowers open. Sort of spoils the picture, and so does the damage the (?) slugs do to it.

I googled Gaura biennis, biennial beeblossom they call it, what a lovely name. I think it looks as nice as the one I have. Biennial compared to perennial though, I prefer the latter.
I hate to admit this, I have never seen a Hosta. I must Google that also. Oh, it is too, Hazel, very like it. I wonder if Hostas would survive here? Yes, zone wise they'd be fine. They are the plantain lily, and the Crinum mooreei is the bush lily. Hostas might be even nicer, more flowers and more interesting foliage?

since you seem to have the same/similar climate to me (lots of the same plants I noticed) I wouldn't imagine hostas would do good...i've never seen one in person... I researched them a while back, and arid didn't seem to fit their resume

Yes, but nowadays we have water via a pipeline, and as everyone is saying, the main cost is not the water, it's other charges. We also have a full house dam courtesy of a wet Summer. I think I'd need to pick my spot very carefully - protect them from hot north winds - and keep an eye on them, but then same can be said for the Crinum, also Hippeastrums and Frangipanis I'm growing.
I would love to see photo's of your Salvias. They're great, aren't they? Love the aroma when you just brush against one like Salvia Hot Lips. We would have a similar climate, with California and Victoria (my state) being the two most bushfire prone places on the planet.

I googled Gaura biennis, biennial beeblossom they call it, what a lovely name. I think it looks as nice as the one I have. Biennial compared to perennial though, I prefer the latter.
I hate to admit this, I have never seen a Hosta. I must Google that also. Oh, it is too, Hazel, very like it. I wonder if Hostas would survive here? Yes, zone wise they'd be fine. They are the plantain lily, and the Crinum mooreei is the bush lily. Hostas might be even nicer, more flowers and more interesting foliage?

The gaura reseeds pretty readily. Mine seems to have gotten crowded out by the 'feral' raspberry, though, or maybe just drowned in last summer's rain! Last year was the first year I didn't spot any. Might just be that it's there but won't be ready to bloom till this year, though, so I'll look for it again.

As for hostas, they love shade. Mine are in full sun but they require lots and lots of water and sun-scorch easily. The flowers are much smaller, I think, but the foliage is very interesting! All those huge leaves!

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

Yes, but nowadays we have water via a pipeline, and as everyone is saying, the main cost is not the water, it's other charges. We also have a full house dam courtesy of a wet Summer. I think I'd need to pick my spot very carefully - protect them from hot north winds - and keep an eye on them, but then same can be said for the Crinum, also Hippeastrums and Frangipanis I'm growing.
I would love to see photo's of your Salvias. They're great, aren't they? Love the aroma when you just brush against one like Salvia Hot Lips. We would have a similar climate, with California and Victoria (my state) being the two most bushfire prone places on the planet.

Here the city uses 20% of its electricity just to pump water to homes! So they charge a mint for it. I have the best garden on the block IMO and my water bill is almost nothing because of the rain catchment system.

do you collect rainwater? Its been very helpful here

I took pics just a week or so ago...I don't see any salvia in them tho...but you get the idea. I'll make a mental note to get pics of them next time